1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to an apparatus for fixing a cord of a vacuum cleaner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vacuum cleaner is an apparatus for sucking dust and impurities by suction which is generated by a blower assembly installed in a body of the vacuum cleaner.
The vacuum cleaner comprises a body having wheels mounted at both sides thereof, a dust collecting chamber which is installed at an inside of the body for collecting dust and impurities, a trash bag which is installed at an inside of a dust collecting chamber, a flexible hose which is connected to an inlet hole of a dust collecting chamber, a brush head assembly which makes contact with a floor, for sucking dust and impurities, and a cord for transmitting an electric power to the vacuum cleaner.
Generally, the vacuum cleaner is powered by a direct current supplied from a battery accommodated in the vacuum cleaner or by an alternating current which is supplied through a power generator. Accordingly, in the vacuum cleaner which is powered by the alternating current, it is necessary to use a power cord which is either fixedly or releasably coupled to the vacuum cleaner to supply electric power to the vacuum cleaner.
FIG. 1. illustrates a structure of a canister type vacuum cleaner 100. The vacuum cleaner 100 comprises a body 110, a brush assembly 120 which is separated from the body 110, and an extension bar 130 and a flexible hose 140 connecting the brush assembly 120 with the body 110. A cord winder (not shown) for winding and extracting the cord (not shown) is installed at an inner side of the body 110.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional vacuum cleaner having the cord winder 200. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cord winder 200 includes a reel 210 and is installed within a reel chamber 204 defined in a body 110 of the vacuum cleaner 100. A torsion spring member (not shown) is installed within the reel 210 for applying a clock-wise biasing force to reel 210.
A button 220 is provided to a rear end portion of an upper surface of body 110. The button 220 has an extended upper portion and is integrally formed with the upper surface of body 110, and has a curved rear portion 220 forming one portion of the rear surface of the body 110.
A pressing lever 240 extends in a downward direction from a lower portion of the button 220. The pressing lever 240 makes contact with an upper surface of an actuator rod 260 which is installed at a lower portion of the pressing lever 240. A projection portion 252 extends in the downward direction with respect to an upper portion of the body 310. A hinge 250 is installed at a front side of the pressing lever 240 so as to permit the button 220 to be swung. A compression coil spring 230 is installed at a rear portion of the pressing lever 240 for elastically supporting the button 220 in the upward and downward directions. The actuating rod 260 is placed at a lower portion of a ceiling of the reel chamber 204. The actuating rod 260 is coupled to a projection portion 264 which is integrally formed at a lower portion of the ceiling of the reel chamber 204, by the hinge 263. A circular stopper 270 is mounted at an end portion of the actuator rod 260. The circular stopper 270 is rotatably coupled to the actuator rod 260 by a stopper pin 272 through the circular stopper 270.
A friction wall 280 making contact with the circular stopper 270 is installed at an inner side of the rear portion of the reel chamber 204 and is spaced apart from the reel 210 for winding the cord 290. The circular stopper 270 is placed between the outer periphery of reel 210 and friction wall 280 to prevent a revolution of the cord winder 200.
As illustrated, when the user stops the pressing of the button 220, the button 220 is maintained at its uppermost position by means of the biasing force of the compression coil spring 230, and an end portion of the stopper rod 260 ascends. At this time, the circular stopper 270 comes into contact with the friction wall 280 and the outer periphery of the reel 210 simultaneously, thereby preventing the rotation of the reel 210.
When the user presses button 220, the pressing rod 240 pushes the end portion of the actuator rod 260, and the circular stopper 270 mounted at an end portion of the actuator rod 260 ascends. Accordingly, a rigid connection between the friction wall 280 and the reel 210 is released. At this time, the reel torsion spring (not shown) exerts its clock-wise biasing force upon the reel 210. Therefore, the reel 210 is rotated by the clock-wise biasing force of the reel torsion spring so as to wind the cord 290 on the reel 210.
When the user stops pressing the button 220 again, the button 220 ascends by the biasing force of the compression coil spring 230. Accordingly, the end portion of the actuator rod 260 ascends. At this time, the circular stopper 270 comes into contact with the friction wall 280 and the outer periphery of the reel 210 simultaneously, thereby preventing the rotation of the reel 210.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,640 which is issued to Gunnar Ingemar and entitled "Cord Winding Structure" discloses a vacuum cleaner which is similar to the above conventional vacuum cleaner.
Ingemar's vacuum cleaners a cord fixing apparatus comprising a pressing button formed at an upper surface of the reel chamber, a link arm connected with the pressing button, a plate adhering to the link arm, and a rotating portion adhering at an end portion of the plate. When the user presses the pressing button, the plate descends in the downward direction by the link. At this time, the link arm connected with the plate descends in the downward direction. Accordingly, a gap between the plate and link arm is enlarged so that the cord can be withdrawn.
However, in case of using the cord fixing apparatus, since a structure of the cord winder is complicated, it takes a long time to assemble the cord fixing apparatus, and a lot of components are required, so the manufacturing cost thereof is increased. Furthermore, even when one of the components thereof is broken, the cord winder cannot be used.